Guardian portal

MySchool works to build engagement with your whole community. Encouraging guardians to log into their platforms is an integral part of building a relationship and getting them to invest in their student's progress. Let's look at the options available for your guardians.

NB: You can organise a meeting with your CSM to discuss your guardian portal configuration. We can add, remove or reorder the portal to meet your aims. Some of the features may not be available with your current package, your CSM will be able to guide you on this.

Is your portal open and have you invited your guardians to log in?

Before you send the invitations, it is good practice to check a few things;

• Have you set up individual or household access, and do the guardians have 'permission' to access their student information? Check their profiles to make sure the Perm access is checked.
• Do they have a primary email? Use quick reports to check and update using mass edit if there is an issue.
• Use impersonate to double-check each class level to make sure the portal is activated. By default, the guardian portal should be available. In case of a problem, contact our support team to check.
• If all is good, bulk send the invitation mail.

Guardian facing tools

Here is a list of our available items;

	All users can change their password. Open the account_edit page using the pen icon. The Bell icon shows notifications if this module is activated on your system.
	This is for the dashboard. There are many dashlets available for the guardian portal; Announcement Inbox My Courses LMS dashlet Permission slip acceptance Questionnaire Outstanding invoices Consents Medical certificate upload Attendance/Assignment dashlet
	Shows account details, invoices, and credit notes. Attached to the Finance module. Allows for online payment.
	Apply for programmes available with the programme builder module.
	Directory where users can opt-in to share their contact details. Part of the core SIS module.
	Guardians can apply for their dependent students who are not enrolled in MySchool. Admissions module package.
	Report cards are stored for all terms and years.
	Shows details of all assignments published during the year. Shows grades, feedback and submissions.
	Details of absences and behaviour events for the current year.
	Allows guardians to update their address and contact details. They opt into the directory here.
	List course details and educator email.
	Lists all published donations made by the guardian donor. Part of the Donation module.
	Shows files shared with the guardian.
	Shows published IEPs. Part of the IEP package.
	Shows the different clubs and organisations that the student is attached to.
	Graphical details of assignment progress. With grades and feedback.
	Schedule showing student periods, appointments and homework.
	Publish the transcript for guardians to download.
	Guardians can select schedule slots for the Parent Teacher module.

How to encourage user interaction with the portal

We understand that it is hard to build a relationship with guardians, some schools have a tight-knit community whereas others find it difficult to get cooperation. Here are a few tips to build that engagement;

• Use categorisation for announcements. It adds colour but it is a great way to filter information in the inbox.
• Use interactive features such as questionnaires and permission slips regularly.
• Why not activate the medical certificate module, and ask them to upload medical certificates.. Put into policy that no paper copy is to be accepted. promote a move to a paperless school.
• Move to accept online payments.
• Again promote environmental factors and make sure you are publishing regular report cards to the portal.
• Share important school information only using My Files.
• Promote assignments not just for homework, but also for everyday lesson content. This will help guardians monitor progress and promote further engagement with the platform.